【GMAT Tip】 Wait, I Need the GRE, Too?

When seeking out a dual MBA and Master’s program, many students are surprised to find they need to submit both GRE and GMAT test scores.

“But wait, I already took the GMAT? And now I have to study for another exam!?!”

No need to worry. Students often decide to take the GRE in lieu of GMAT, and all is not lost – there are more overlaps between the GRE and GMAT than you think! The hard work you put in for the GMAT will absolutely show up in your performance on the GRE – and actually, if you do decided to get both a JD and MBA, thereby taking the LSAT. But talking about the LSAT is another topic for another day!

The similarities between the GRE and GMAT are numerous. There are short reading passages that are almost identical to GMAT critical reasoning. We want to use the same method of spotting strengthen, weaken, inference, and method of reasoning questions and from there, use the same strategies in evaluating the premise or conclusion before selecting a multiple-choice answer.

Reading comprehension is, also, not very different from reading comprehension passages on the GMAT. While the passages can be more jargon-filled and technical, we still use the STOP method in approaching these questions while using target process of elimination.

The notable differences in the verbal section of the GRE comes from Text Completions and Sentence Equivalence questions. These questions require that you have some working knowledge of graduate-level vocabulary words. But does that mean you need to study stacks of vocabulary flashcard sets? Not necessarily.

Keep in mind the instructions for the GRE verbal section are:

Measures your ability to analyze and evaluate written material and synthesize information obtained from it, analyze relationships among component parts of sentences and recognize relationships among words and concepts.

Generally, understanding the test maker’s goals and what the exam is trying to assess is huge for applying a successful strategy and approach that produces 99th percentiles.

You can do very well on this section without Oxford dictionary level vocabulary. Our understanding of how to tackle the Sentence Corrections section of the GMAT will come in handy here – looking for transitional words and phrases is huge for doing well on both these question types. Knowing whether the words in a two-blank questions set are positive then negative, for example, will help us eliminate at least a couple of answer choices to our questions.

The Analytical Writing section does, unfortunately, have two essay question types, the Issue essay and the Argument essay. But, again, all is not lost because the Argument essay is very similar to the AWA essay from the GMAT.

That covers these strategic similarities between the GRE and GMAT. In our next blog post, we’ll talk about similarities with the Math and Quantitative sections, and other tricks that help us knock both out of the park.